International Aerospace Discussion

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 08 Apr 2009 01:44

AWST :: Mar 5, 2009 :: F-35 Air Combat Skills Analyzed

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 08 Apr 2009 05:04

Imagery of the launch pad showing the U'nha 2 launch vehicle

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 08 Apr 2009 11:19

Yet another UFO captured on video over London.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... ondon.html

UFO photographed over London
An amateur photographer has captured what appears to be an "uncanny" glowing disc hovering in the sky.

narayana · Post by **narayana** » 08 Apr 2009 15:18

Philip wrote:Yet another UFO captured on video over London.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... ondon.html

UFO photographed over London
An amateur photographer has captured what appears to be an "uncanny" glowing disc hovering in the sky.

In first look it looks like sun light emitted from space between clouds,Philip,do you have any info on the UFO files declassified by UK govt?,if it was worthy.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 08 Apr 2009 19:15

Calls for Greater Missile Range for S.Korea

South Korea is by agreement limited to missiles with a range of 300 km and a maximum payload of 500 kg. Prime Minister Han Seung-soo on Monday hinted Seoul could seek a revision of the Korean-U.S. missile agreement, saying, "Now is the time to think seriously of this matter at bilateral defense ministers' talks." The current range does not even extend as far as the North's missile launch pad in Musudan-ri

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 08 Apr 2009 19:16

Japan Could Boost Defense Over N.Korea Launch

Japan will massively increase its military spending after North Korea's abortive satellite launch Sunday. Much as the North's launch of a Taepodong-1 missile in 1998 gave Tokyo justification to build up its missile defense system, so Sunday's rocket launch is likely to cause Japan to boost its missile defense and reinforce its military.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 08 Apr 2009 23:01

Yindu's have competition.
Kazakhstan bids for Israeli role in Baikonur, Russia buys Israeli drones

The Kazakh bid took Israel by surprise. Israeli sources have not commented on the negotiations which are still at an early stage. A Kazakh source noted that if a deal is worked out, Russian and Israeli space and technical teams will have to dovetail at Baikonur for at least five years until Moscow's own space city is ready to go.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 10 Apr 2009 07:20

N.Korean Rocket 'Made Using Chinese Technology'

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 10 Apr 2009 07:21

ITU Dismisses N.Korean Satellite Claim

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 11 Apr 2009 12:57

Researchers Find Altitude Where Atmosphere Ends

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 11 Apr 2009 20:02

Cockpit comparision:

LCA

Rafale

F-16

Mirage 2000-5

Eurofighter

F-18

JAS Gripen

Upgraded Mig-29

Mig-35

F-22

F-35

Added Later: Cockpit images of several 4.5 and 5th Gen fighters

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 11 Apr 2009 20:12

Rafale da jawab nahi!.. LCA ko jai ho!

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 11 Apr 2009 20:15

Rafale looks like a spacecraft.
The Mirage 2000-5 supposedly has the same software architecture as the Rafale.
The LCA cockpit is very contemporary to its 4th gen peers.

sum · Post by **sum** » 11 Apr 2009 20:32

Rafale cockpit seems to be in a different league...Wonder how the F-22 cockpit looks like?

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 11 Apr 2009 20:45

Please see the original post - new images added

Baljeet · Post by **Baljeet** » 11 Apr 2009 22:17

F-35 has the best cockpit display. All information right in front of you.
JMT

Arya Sumantra · Post by **Arya Sumantra** » 11 Apr 2009 23:19

Posters in the building that horizontally rests the giant Saturn V rocket at Lyndon Johnson Space Center, Houston

Why we will return to the moon?
NASA’s explanation for return to the moon.
http://i41.tinypic.com/1ij5dz.jpg
Places of interest to NASA on Moon
http://i39.tinypic.com/25p6a9k.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/1z5n7g0.jpg

saptarishi · Post by **saptarishi** » 12 Apr 2009 00:21

correction folks ,i think mig-35 cockpit u have shown is wrong,i am also posting super hornet and f-16 block 60/70 cockpit

http://i44.tinypic.com/2yv5v2g.jpg
mig-35

http://www.militaryfactory.com/cockpits ... hornet.jpg
super hornet

http://www.aereo.jor.br/wp-content/uplo ... ockpit.jpg
f-16in block 60/70

http://209.85.48.10/8877/72/upload/p8989212.jpg
jf-17 bandar ,terrorist jet

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 12 Apr 2009 03:28

The JF-17/Bandar cockpit looks like that of a simulator...not a real jet (look at the the view outside cockpit). Trust the chipandas to attempt sleight of hand.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 12 Apr 2009 03:42

the euro pieter doesn't open up for me!?

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 12 Apr 2009 06:04

Them French know how to design. Aircrafts and ships too!

Based on these pictures India should by the Rafale for M/MRCA and future ship based too, along with LCA/MCA.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 12 Apr 2009 08:26

For North Korea, a notable success amidst failure

North Korea began its long-range missile programme by reverse engineering the tried-and-tested Soviet Scud liquid-propellant missiles. Then in the space of about five years, between 1987 and 1992, North Korea began developing an improved version of the Scud as well as the Nodong, the Paektusan-1 (Taepodong-1), the Paektusan-2 (Taepodong-2) and the Musudan missiles,

This rapid sequence of development is remarkable and historically unprecedented for a small developing country,” wrote Dr. Pinkston in a report published by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. “Some analysts believe that foreign assistance has been so extensive that North Korea’s ballistic missile programme more closely resembles procurement or licensed production rather than ‘near self-sufficiency in development and production’,” he added.

Shameek · Post by **Shameek** » 12 Apr 2009 08:38

Raja Bose wrote:The JF-17/Bandar cockpit looks like that of a simulator...not a real jet (look at the the view outside cockpit). Trust the chipandas to attempt sleight of hand.

Yes, you are right about that. Look at the HUD display which seems to be on the background screen for the simulator.

Ajay K · Post by **Ajay K** » 12 Apr 2009 10:58

Folks, F-35 and Thambi (Rafale) are truely futuristic. For fair comparisons would suggest that we have Grippen NextGen and F-16IN to compare.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 12 Apr 2009 13:26

When the article says that the NKoreans got their missile tech from extensive foreign assistance, it seems to me that it was all China. After all, I don't see who else would have given it to them.

Therefore, I'd wonder what China's game has been, to be beefing up NKorea's missile blackmail antics like this. Do they not perceive any negative repercussions from this down the road? Or was this just their parting gift before joining the MTCR?

Since China's missile gifts to NKorea have then found their way to Pak, then I'd say we need to even the score by secretly supplying BrahMos to Taiwan. We wouldn't have to admit to any such transfers, nor would the Taiwanese have to brandish such weapons openly.

If we do nothing, then we're saying to China that it can walk all over us. Even when I debate Chinese elsewhere on the net, they seem to have the impression that we're wimps. Such impressions can be the deadliest vulnerability of all, since they embolden others to attack or take steps that undermine our security, because they think we'll do nothing back.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 13 Apr 2009 05:01

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Ana ... t_999.html

At the most recent Zhuhai Air Show, China introduced a high-capacity LM-5D carrier rocket with a diameter of 5 meters at the core section, bundled with one 2.25-meter-diameter booster and two 3.35-meter-diameter boosters.

The carrier rocket has a length of 60 meters, a takeoff weight of 675,000 kilograms and the capacity to send targets of 10,000 kilograms into geostationary transfer orbit. The initial flight of the rocket is expected no later than 2014.

The CZ-5 is capable of sending a 25-ton-class satellite into low Earth orbit and a 12-ton-class satellite into geosynchronous orbit.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 13 Apr 2009 06:55

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1077922.html

The solution could have been a joint activity of the major world powers, announcing the intensification of sanctions against North Korea. That requires an international consensus. In order to achieve it Russian and Chinese must agree. But, as in the case of Iran, Russia and China are unwilling to play the American game. At least not according to the rules that Bush tried to force on them.

Obama will have to offer far-reaching enticements and proposals that Russia and China would be unable to turn down. Perhaps a redistribution of the world into spheres of influence would satisfy them. But it is highly doubtful whether Obama has the ability - and the support at home and abroad - to lead such a move.

JaiS · Post by **JaiS** » 13 Apr 2009 08:18

Some images from LockMart's channel on flickr

Image: Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor Production

Image: ABL turret

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 13 Apr 2009 16:18

http://www.newairplane.com/assets/envir ... elease.pdf

JAL Flight Brings Aviation One Step Closer to Using Biofuel

Tokyo, January 30, 2009: Today, Japan Airlines (JAL) became the first airline to conduct a demonstration flight using a sustainable biofuel primarily refined from the energy crop, camelina. It was also the first demo flight using a combination of three sustainable biofuel feedstocks, as well as the first one using Pratt & Whitney engines. The results of the flight are expected to conclusively confirm the second-generation biofuel’s operational performance capabilities and potential commercial viability.

http://www.newairplane.com/assets/envir ... pleted.pdf

Media Release
30 December 2008

Air New Zealand Test Flight Proves Viability of Jatropha Biofuel

The world's first commercial aviation test flight powered by the sustainable secondgeneration
biofuel jatropha has been successfully completed in Auckland.
More than a dozen key performance tests were undertaken in the two hour test flight
which took-off at 11:30am (NZ time) from Auckland International Airport.
A biofuel blend of 50:50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel was used to power one of the Air
New Zealand Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/08 ... i-biofuel8

Continental Airlines uses biofuel on test flight

By Peter Pae
January 08, 2009

Continental Airlines Inc. ratcheted up the race to develop alternate fuel for passenger planes Wednesday as it successfully flew a Boeing 737 twin-engine jet powered partly by algae and weed.

Cheers....

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 13 Apr 2009 16:19

http://www.biofuelswatch.com/news/a-bio ... om-nevada/

A biojet takes off from Nevada
Posted by Max in News on 11 11th, 2008 | 2 responses

Aero L-29 is the name of the first biofuel-powered jet that flew into the sky from Reno, Nevada. The jet is fueled with biodiesel, but the development team is planning to switch to algae fuel.

This is the first jet which is 90% powered by biofuel. There were biojets before, but they were using only 20% of biofuel, and the rest was regular fuel.
“This proves that we can make our planes environmental-friendly and supply ourselves with energy.” says Douglas Rodante, CEO of GFP.

Cheers....

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 14 Apr 2009 13:43

Nuclear power generator uses radioactive particle emission to stimulate fluorescent material which then lights up photoelectric cell. It's called PIDEC:

http://www.physorg.com/news158848950.html

http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/04/direct ... er-to.html

They're claiming upto 40% conversion efficiency, which is pretty good.

They're also saying it could make for a much more compact and portable nuclear powerplant.
I'm wondering if that could make it suitable for spacecraft. For instance, it could be used to power an ion-engine, or a VASIMR type of rocket.
This could allow SSTO.

At the very least, it could be suitable for powering space probes (eg. rovers)

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 14 Apr 2009 14:03

Here's more:

http://isjaee.hydrogen.ru/pdf/AEE04-07_Prelas.pdf

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 15 Apr 2009 04:10

Should be of interest to us as well thanks to the P-8I.

Navy P-8A Poseidon Already Being Redesigned

SEATTLE Even though its first flight still isn’t slated until the second quarter of this year, the U.S. Navy’s P-8A Poseidon is already being redesigned.

Poseidon’s Increment One is the basic aircraft. However, the Navy has designed a software baseline that can be upgraded every 2-3 years. To support these serial upgrades, the aircraft has 50 percent extra electrical, cooling and computing power. There also is room for 12 tons of growth.

Following first flight, three aircraft will be in the flight test program which will last through 2011, service officials confirm. The first operational unit is to be on the ramp in 2013.

Increment Two has an anti-submarine warfare upgrade. At milestone C, the program will demonstrate a network-ready capability to publish and subscribe data that can be pushed to a tactical control station. And there are hints about what might be in store technologically and operationally for future increments. A key decision will be a follow-on to the P-3C’s mechanically-scanned, Littoral Surveillance Radar System (LSRS).

“We don’t know yet what will follow,” says Capt. Mike Moran, the Navy’s program manager for P-8 and EP-X. “We have been tasked to put provisions in the P-8 to host the next generation of LSRS. I don’t know if it will be an AESA [active, electronically scanned array radar], but I do know the P-8 has the necessary weight, capacity, power [180KVA plus 27,000 pounds of engine thrust] and cooling [for AESA, which can triple radar range over conventional radars].”

.............

link

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 15 Apr 2009 04:13

link

Brazilian Air Force signs order launching Embraer KC-390 tanker-transport

Embraer today launched a jet-powered military tanker-transport with a debut order from the Brazilian Air Force signed on the opening day of the Latin American Aerospace and Defense (LAAD) exhibition in Rio de Janeiro.

The new aircraft, designated the KC-390, is derived from the E-190 passenger jet, but is substantially different. The military configuration include such major design changes as a high-wing, T-tail and aft ramp.

“We are convinced that the development of the KC-390 will result in an effective cargo and tanker aircraft for the FAB and shall also become another successful export platform for both Embraer and Brazil,” Frederico Fleury Curado, Embraer president and CEO, says in a statement.
.................

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 15 Apr 2009 09:36

http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/994787.html

Defense cuts could spell job losses

Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. has said 95,000 jobs at various sites could be lost by scuttling the F-22, touted as the world's most advanced jet fighter with a price tag of $140 million apiece.

Lockheed -- the lead F-22 contractor -- has said shutting down production in Marietta and Fort Worth, Texas, could cost 25,000 jobs at the company and its major suppliers.

Cheers....

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 17 Apr 2009 23:56

UAE pioneering pan Arab space agency

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 18 Apr 2009 06:16

Sea Launch Counts Down To SICRAL 1B Launch

Sea Launch is preparing for the launch of the SICRAL 1B communications satellite on April 20, with liftoff scheduled at the opening of a 57-minute window, at 1:16am PDT (08:16 GMT) - for Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales company, based in Rome. Built by Thales Alenia Space, the dual-use Italsat 3000 spacecraft, with a mass of 3,038 kg (6,697 lb), is designed to provide communications services for the Italian Ministry of Defense, NATO and allied nations. Sea Launch will provide a live webcast of this mission on April 20, starting at 1:00am Pacific Time (08:00 GMT).

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 20 Apr 2009 10:09

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... amage.html

F-22 taxiway collision causes $1 million damage

A US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor has sustained more than $1 million in damage after colliding with another aircraft parked on a taxiway.

A spokesman at Tyndall AFB, Florida, where the incident last week occurred, confirmed the F-22A struck a Canada's Air Force Boeing CF-18.

Despite a $1 million repair bill, the collision was a relatively minor, low-speed event, the spokesman says. Details of the damage are being withheld pending the results of a safety investigation.

The USAF defines a Class A safety mishap as any incident resulting in death or disabling injury to people or more than $1 million worth of damage to the aircraft.

Meanwhile, the RCAF has also dispatched a safety investigation team to Tyndall, says a spokesman for the 1st Canadian Air Division.

The spokesman was unable to immediately provide details about the damage sustained by the parked CF-18.

Cheers....

Tilak · Post by **Tilak** » 20 Apr 2009 23:32

T-38 Talon caps an F-22